May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”
Psalm 70:4
I’m so done with this virus. I’ve tried to be obedient and follow the rules by staying away from people who are more health-compromised than myself. I’ve worn a mask wherever I’ve gone to protect others in the even I might be infected and not know it. But I’m telling you that I’m getting weary. Are you? I don’t believe I’ve ever been “shuttered” away from people for so long in my life.
Some people are on the verge of depression, but I’m not. Some might even be on the brink of despair with no hope, but I’m not. Some have lost their way and are wondering what’s going to happen next, but I’m not. Why? Because I serve a God who is intimately involved with every aspect of my life, and He loves me.
Seek God in times of despair
I realize it seems simple, but when you face uncertainty in your life, it is always best to seek God. But what does seeking God look like in real life? Seeking God emerges from realizing God is the answer to all of our pain and uncertainty. When we realize He is ultimately managing things to work out for His good, we should go to Him in prayer. Sit still and pray. Let Him know your concerns. He wants us to rely totally on Him in our darkest times. And for many of us, these are as dark as they’ve been in quite some time.
Rejoicing in times of despair
Rejoicing is a profound action that people who do not follow Christ fail to understand. Rejoicing is not something only done when things go well. Rejoicing is when our world falls apart, and we still fall on our knees before a holy, righteous, and benevolent God to thank Him for His care and goodness. I’m not saying it’s always the easiest thing to do, but it is possible in the middle of your life’s largest crisis.
Rejoicing because of God is a result of seeking God because of your despair. Interestingly enough, this rejoicing carries with it the idea of having great mental satisfaction in knowing God. What a privilege!
Protected by God in times of despair
This final portion of the verse encourages us to retrospectively look at ourselves and see us as changed people because of God’s salvation. In your difficulty, defeat, depression, and despair, we must realize that we’ve been transformed by God to live a life that seeks Him in times of trouble. We must rejoice in times of distress. Why? Because we’re different.
A deadly virus is going around the world, and people are dying. Some of you reading this today have friends who died or are sick from this virus. How do you respond? You respond by desperately seeking and crying out to God because He transformed you from the inside out. The idea of salvation in this verse is someone God saved from harm. That’s what He does, and that’s who He is.
Does it mean everything will be great in your life, and you won’t go through times of disappointment and difficulty? Absolutely not. But it does mean that we look at our world very differently. We look at our world as a temporary place, where God intervenes and protects us from harm.
I may get the virus tomorrow, but it won’t change my view of God. I will continually seek Him, rejoice, and be glad in Him, and trust Him to keep me from harm. God is amazingly good to those who love and trust Him. Will you trust Him with your disappointments today? Will you rejoice and be glad in Him because He loves you?
Remember…God is great!